SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The public was warned about this.
The Illinois Department of Public Health says as the holiday season is now in full swing, new cases of COVID-19 are starting to go up again, with more than 20,000 new cases in the state last week.
Sixty-three of the state’s 102 counties are at elevated risk for transmission, with all three tri-counties at a medium spread level.
“We are seeing an increase in cases of COVID-19 and the flu around the State of Illinois,” said Mike Claffey, IDPH spokesman. “This had been anticipated as we’re getting into the colder weather and the holiday season. We’re very concerned about this, obviously, especially with young children.”
Claffey says that’s partly because a number of hospital beds are being taken up by children with serious cases of RSV The state says only ten percent of pediatric I.C.U. beds are available.
But it’s not too late to get a flu shot and a COVID-19 booster.
“The flu vaccines that are out this year are designed to address the specific flu variants we are seeing this season,” said Claffey. “That’s the same with the new COVID-19 bivalent vaccine. If you haven’t gotten that bivalent booster, you should really do so now.”
The Centers for Disease Control says Illinois is at a high or very high level of spread of the flu..
CLICK HERE for more data about the spread of influenza in Illinois.
(Centers for Disease Control)
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